What are some tart yet tasty apple varieties you have grown? Not so tart as not eatable or just for cooking only.
Thank you.
Karmijn de Sonneville is probably the most intensely flavored of all apples and it is tart.
Not so tart that you don’t want to eat it, but very tart. I love it very complex flavor.
4 Likes
Sounds like what I am looking for. Not overwhelming tartness but that nice complex flavor that you want to eat the whole apple once you start. Some apples are one or two bite apples. Is it an apple scab magnet?
Karmijn is pretty tart and you might want to try some before you grow it, however if you let it hang a little on the tree and store it for a month it becomes even better.
That is a good idea. I’ll have to find some. I know none are grown in any of the apple orchards around me. I have checked for the different varieties but they all seem to have exactly the same varieties, boring! I am in zone 5b so a lot are not grown here that require a long ripening time. The orchards want to pick and sell all in one motion.
What state are you in?
I’m in SW Ohio, in zone 5b.
KDS isn’t easy to grow everywhere, and in conjunction with its tartness, this makes it hard to find.
If you haven’t tried GoldRush, I recommend it. It’s tart, an excellent keeper, fairly disease-resistant and much easier to find.
1 Like
Another one to look at then. I heard Monarch is a tart one as well. The Monarch is an earlier ripening one.
I grow Monark and it’s a little tart, but mostly balanced.
For me tasty and tart I really like Gravenstein.
1 Like
That is helpful. I need a few early ripening apples. I seem to have a lot that ripen late. I do not want to be overwhelmed with harvest time when they get larger. Right now they are only two years old. Two leafings.
Another intense sweet/tart apple worth sampling: Wickson.
1 Like
Out in Cali they do great,. Here they get soft and mushy quickly.
Ashmead’s Kernel is widely variable in the quality of different specimens, but on rare occassion you can get a really good one in Oct or Nov that has super sweet and super sour in-your-face flavor, with a crisp bite. My mother shared a really good one with me and it figuratively knocked her on her behind with tart but still within the range of pleasant flavor.
1 Like
I tried growing one and it was a disaster. I wish I could find some to actually buy. It would have been a better experience. I see the name and I cringe.
For my taste the Pink Lady is near the top of my list. My experience with Goldrush is limited but I’m pretty sure it will also be a great choice. An earlier ripening apple that I like when it is fresh is Jonagold. The Arkansas Black is not for everyone but I like it. Bill
Newtown Pippin is tart.
2 Likes
Karmijn Da Sonneville is a great, sharp, complex apple, not a great keeper in my limited experience. Jonagold is another with balance more to the sharp side. Slightly underripe Liberties can be somewhat sharp.
3 Likes
YES! Definitely try Goldrush. I’m growing some, but my tree is young so I bought a case from my local farmers market before thanksgiving. They’ve just been in plastic bags in my 'fridge and most of them are still as crisp and crunchy as the day I bought them. Great keeper and great sweet/tart taste.
1 Like